I could have kicked myself back in the summer when I realised I’d written the wrong date on the calendar for disabled poet and wheelchair user Shaun Fallows’ gig at the Poetry Jam in Durham. I’ve known Shaun for a few years online and on Zoom, but I’d never seen him live. Both of us were looking forward to meeting up. So I had to get in touch afterwards to say sorry, and to ask him how the tour to promote his poetry collection Redundant Butties was going. Shaun quite rightly has waited until it is almost over before getting back to me:  

 

Many apologies for my senior moment in missing your Durham gig at the Poetry Jam. How did it go? 

The Durham gig was lovely, it was in a little community centre and people were so friendly, making me feel instantly at home, not to mention the beautiful scenery of the cathedral and hills. In a practical sense I found I had to drive more carefully, and my PA who was on hand, had to shove a bit if I got occasionally stuck. But overall no problems. I also came away thinking, rather than traditional, largely inaccessible pub venues, how easy it would be if most gigs were in this type of building - a building already adapted for everyone anyway and living up to the community ethos poetry has at its heart. 

 

Your blog points out the many frustrations you experience travelling about in London before your Camden gig, which wasn’t all it had been cracked up to be, access-wise. Can you say anything more about that? 

I think Camden was a reminder of how thorough you need to be when having a disability. It’s sad but we’re not yet allowed to have much spontaneity over where we go yet, so the requirtements need to be very exact. There’d been some communication between the host of the night and my producer, but when asked about the step-free access and toilet access, the host just said yeah, it's accessible, which turned out to not be the case at all. There was also just one properly accessible tube station in London, which I think is just wrong in today’s times, and made just getting to the venue a big ordeal. In a strange way though, Camden was useful, because it was such an uncomfortable feeling under those circumstances - but I take heart that I did the same level of performance and didn’t let the anger I felt win. I look at Camden now as if it's a footballer playing in bare feet on a rubbish pitch managing to play on that, and you glide  anywhere else.

 

In 2022 you did a show at the Edinburgh Free Fringe titled Sunny and Chair. How would you describe that experience?

I look at Edinburgh in much the same way as Camden. I was proud to do the gigs and  enjoyed that aspect.  Meeting football commentator Martin Tyler and comedian Justin Moorhouse was great, too, but in a practical sense, like Camden, I found it shocking that these places that are labelled as claiming to be ‘arts’ have no or very little access or disability awareness. In comparison to other minority issues, disability is left behind and not taken as seriously, I think. I’ve learned the hard way when my able-bodied friends say go to a trendy place, it's odds on to be awful for disabilities.

It was a big moment gaining Arts Council funding for this recent tour that took in dates at Liverpool, Southport, Kendal and Derby, as well as your home town of Wigan, reading from your latest poetry collection, Redundant Butties. Do you think the tour was a success in highlighting the problems wheelchair users face when performing at poetry nights? Did any of the venues you appeared at fully pass the accessibility test? 

I do think the tour was a success, definitely. I got so much pleasure from reading the poems in new places and hopefully getting the balance of poignancy and some humour and all the venues with the exception of Camden felt easy to be at. I read a bit of everything and the new things like ‘Disabled Ghost’ and ‘Stolen For A Store Cupboard’ highlighted the problems of not getting into venues or toilet facilities, without labouring OTT on the point. I would love to do more little tours for sure in future because access issues aside, I feel like I've found my thing.

In conversations we’ve had in the past, you have said that ‘most politicians never mention disability’. Do you still believe that to be the case?

Yeah, I think it's still the case. Just look at how long governments take to appoint a disability minister, including the current one. That tells you a lot about where they place disability issues. They also tend to be able-bodied, the appointed ministers, which in my opinion is patronising and can’t be right. I think many people including myself are left wondering when the issues we’ve had from our youth are ever going to be addressed. I think that's largely why I don’t have any interest in politics. Able-bodied or disabled, all our politicians always scratch each others’ backs.

You have said that after the tour there would be a symposium or some such thing to look at how it all went, and what lessons can be learned as far as access is concerned in the future. {It recently took place]. What points were you planning to make?

The main points are that the arts in places like Edinburgh, Camden and my home town Wigan do have a  massive way to go. But that in no way detracts from the fact that you belong there. We should be socialising and mixing. It's a part of life most  able-bodied people take for granted. I'd also add that when set up well, it brings the same massive buzz and joy sharing stories as it would for anyone else. Don’t let stubbornness and lack of change be the defining point. It shouldn’t still be on the person with a disability to be pointing these things out, or making big concessions to stay involved. The tour overall was a great experience but afterwards I can’t help asking why many of the places I visited weren’t prepared to go that bit further to get the access better, whether through looking at other more adequate venues, or acquiring funding to adapt existing ones. Ultimately a lot of the changes aren’t earth- shattering adjustments, and with the technologies available to us the time of excuses has to fade one day. The arts needs to start matching the buzz words it throws around regularly with actions, if it is actually for everyone. I think also not being afraid to chat or ask questions in an honest, polite way would be a big help in getting better access. I believe that political correctness or whatever you’d like to call it has made people less inclined to talk honestly, and that in the long run isn’t true equality. It’s based on fear and damages basic human connection. 

 

Who would you like to thank in helping with the tour?

My producer Louise Fazackerley, who helped me apply for the Arts Council funding. Photographer Benji Reid, who it was a pleasure to work with, plus Wigan artist Leanne Mansfield who drew the cover for Redundant Butties. I’d say a big thanks as well to everyone who hosted their individual nights, for making me feel really welcome.

 

"I gave it that title because firstly I thought it sounded funny and I love comedy, but secondly because I feel disability as an issue is the redundant butty that's easiest overlooked." Shaun Fallows talking about his third poetry collection, Redundant Butties, available to order here

 

 

PHOTOGRAPHS: (top) BENJI REID PHOTOGRAPHY; (second from top) TONY KINSELLA; (third from top) BENJI REID PHOTOGRAPHY; (above) BENJI REID PHOTOGRAPHY/ (poster design) ZAK BRETHERTON